Intriguing and/or terrifying news from the world of paintballing today, as it has emerged that an inventor in America has been granted a patent on a fearsomely powerful new paintball gun, powered by the same "bunker buster" principle as secret World War II Nazi superweapons.
The patented fuel/air paintball gun. Credit: USPTO …

COMMENTS

Someone got a patent on a spud gun?

I

got searched by the police once for having a spud gun. In the pub. I didn't know whether to laugh or be embarrassed, but in the end thought it was more embarrassing for the rozzers. At least that was back before routine armed response. Still, better to be shot for a spud gun than a chair leg I guess!

As an Irishman....

@thefutureboy

I can easily (under 5 minutes) construct a small cannon out of materials found in my garage that is capable of firing (most of) a potato with enough force to do serious damage to a car's windshield. Smaller, pocket sized versions are also possible. These smaller versions have enough force to make for serious bruising, worse than paintball guns (a "friend" thought it would be funny to shoot me in the leg .... I'm here to tell you he won't do THAT again any time soon!).

These things are dangerous, so I'll leave the exact construction technique, materials list and the propellant (also available in most households) out of this post ...

The magic bullet?

Even though the patent has just been granted, I believe this machine has been available for a while. Not seen many on the field though, I wonder why? Carrying a bottle of compressed flammable gas may seem even more dangerous than compressed inert gas?

Either El Reg has raised it's game in terms of parody outrage, or they have never played paintball. I'm hoping it's the former....

Gattling paint gun? now that I've gotta see

So you're all thinking inside the wrong box.

Given this is useless in recreational and competitive paintball --- too high fps --- the application lies elsewhere.

Crowd control.

At the point where the police has to fire baton rounds, tear gas and rubber bullets at football hooligans, you know they can limp off acting all innocent bystanderish. With say 400 fps paintball they will limp off clearly marked (maybe give one colour to each police foursome, to help identification). It works both ways, police cannot claim somebody else's fault when an innocent gets hurt, and claiming to have been elsewhere will not work for those hit.

I suspect

US patents.

It is almost impossible NOT to get a patent awarded in the US once an application is filed. The US Patent Office seems to work on the principle of "award and wait for a challenge". This is the root of patent-troll cases - patent something obvious, and then keep ripping people off for use of the patented thing until someone can afford to take it to court. Basically, the American patent system is inadequate at best, and fatally flawed at worst.

"Just like a V1"?

Doodlebug? -Beetlebug!

This is not a pulse jet engine.

Pulse jet engines, like the WW2 Argus engine uses reflected shock waves both to inhale fresh air and to create sufficient compression of the fuel-air before ignition.

This invention does not appear to use shock waves, and appears, technically to be closer to a quite normal two stroke engine. Sadly this does not make for a just as good headline, since Mr. Page cannot insert NAZI into it without looking ridiculous.

"Nazi-WV-beetle-powered father of all paintball guns patented" really does not have the same ring to it does it?

Sir

Yes, it would, as anyone who has ramped up their markers to >300fps could attest.

However, it doesn't stop you firing non-paintball balls from it. 11/16" nylon bearings for example.

Lightweight, solid, and probably lethal even at 300fps. Not to mention a marker that fires 15 balls per second fully auto with a hopper which can carry 200 'rounds'. The day someone uses a marker like this in public is the day the law changes on air-guns I can assure you.

I've seen video footage of 'non-lethal' guns in America that fire a variety of ammunition, primarily bean-bags which quite literally floor your target.

Pig density

"....theoretically capable of firing a paintball through a mature pig"

Is this the new benchmark measurement for all new weaponry? I would suggest that a mature Gloucestershire Old Spot would be harder to penetrate than a Swallow Belied Mangalitza. I feel we need some clarification on the matter.

Paint balls - bah!

Here's how real men/women/kids do it:

http://www.punkinchunkin.com/main.htm

You'll note that the 2009 winner fired a four kilogram pumpkin a distance of one and a quarter kilometers. It's a heck of a long drive for me, but someday I'm going to go to this contest. I seem to recall that current distance limitations are due to rules against freezing the pumpkin solid and having the pumpkin disintegrate when it hits the mach barrier.

Patent granted.

Lasers? pah!

Oh Yeah

I forgot it's also the reason that one has to be careful about the oil used in decent air rifles as along side an increase of muzzle velocity would usually be accompanied with a fragmented pellet (and unhappy air rifle)

I have vague memories of a British air rifle from the late 19th century which used the compression of ether as a propellant (technically it becomes a firearm at that point).

Actually thinking about it surely the paintball gun becomes a fully fledged firearm and therefore requires a licence

Ball Bearings

Made my own 1/8" calibre* one about 20 years ago to shoot at birds shitting all over the workshop I worked in. The workshop had a very high ceiling to allow the gantry crane to traverse the workshop. Unfortunately our workbenches were under the broken air conditioning vent and the beams where the birds nested and that were most of the bird shit ended up, so I made my own hopper fed BB flak gun powered off the 100PSI workshop supply.

It was handy to leave it plugged in and when the birds came in to the workshop and started squawking somebody would pick it up, give the trigger three or four squeezes and send about 20 ball bearings skywards.

It never got rid of the birds but at least that stopped squawking when they entered the workshop.

Neither did the facilities maintaince people ever figure out why there were so many poc marks in the windows, although I think the IT people were a bit suspicious when that found ball bearings in the shorted-out printer.

Paris, who also knows how to blow ball bearings,

* (Attempts to create a successful larger calibre weapon failed due to lack of long enough material for a barrel and a limited supply of 3/16” ball bearings, however the short barrel and larger ball bearings were found to be very effective at destroying Christmas tree decorations)

Captain 5150

It's too bad everyone believes everything they read!! The Tippmann C-3 doesn't shoot any faster than 310 fps, it doesn't shoot any faster than 5 balls per second (It's a pump, like a shotgun, so one pump, one shot!). If it could shoot a paintball through a pig it's made of paper!!! Do the research before you throw words like NAZI around, bonehead!!

Heavy crew-served doodlebug pulse bomb splatter weaponry...!!!

New proof of Sod's Law

Slightly off-topic, but anyone who's done paintball might testify...

The chances of getting shot in the face at paintball is directly linked to Sod's Law.

ie you will be shot in the face if:

- you are at the opposite end of the game to your shooter, even if that is outside the technical range of his weapon. By the same rule, he will not hit you if you're only 6ft away, standing directly in front of him.

- Your shooter is Steve Wonder with advanced Parkinsons, his gun is 25yrs old and it's barrel has more corners in it than Silverstone. Olympic marksmen on the other hand, won't hit a thing all day.

- ..and he was actually aiming at someone else at the time. The further away from you that person is, the more likely it is you will be shot. This rule works best if the shooter hasn't even seen you at all. "Blue on Blue" is common.

Me thinks the author does wank (too much)

Me thinks setting aside the aplomb for the bomb, that the inventor decided to go with an air fuel powered paint ball gun because it's cheaper to buy 1 liter of fuel and get a million shots with that than it is to buy CO2 cartridges all the time.

That is about as simple as it gets.

Dressing the basic information up with "Legends of the death destroyer wars" capable of punching holes in time and space through planets, makes you the author - look like a wanker on poetic license.

Gatling Paintball Gun...

Somebody required links, but no one is needed. I googled for it, and I've seen BEAUTY. Apparently some guys on their Mechanical Engineer Graduation Thesis built one, and they choose it would be gas-powered exclusively, (rotating the barrels, and for propellant as well). Apparenty, they could have the barrels rotating on eletricity, but they would have to lug around a 12V car battery. Not handy enough. They already used CO2 canisters and simple compressed air, so they went with it.

On another note... you can freeze the paintballs. The PFY did it. Prepare to be called a bastard should you ever do that.

Air guns can be as letal as firearms, just add pressure. A LOT. High pressure hidraulics can leak, and potentially KILL if the oil is sprayed by any compressed air bubble. Not pretty.